86 Indian fishermen to be handed over to India today

Eighty-seven Indian citizens including 86 fishermen were released from Karachi jails as good will gesture and sent to Lahore through a business train. They were taken to Wagah border near Lahore via buses for handing over to the Indian authorities.

These Indian fishermen were arrested for violating territorial waters of Pakistan.

The fishermen were released from Landhi Jail in Karachi on Sunday and sent to Lahore for handing them over to India through Wagah Border.

“We have total 536 Indian fishermen in prison and today we released 87 of them while 86 more will be released on 20th of this month,” deputy superintendent of Karachi’s Landhi prison, Shakir Shah, told AFP.

Shah said those released Sunday had been in jail for more than two and half years. They were freed after verification of their travel documents sent by Indian authorities.

The fishermen of Pakistan and India are frequently arrested along with their boats due to poorly defined maritime border in the Arabian Sea. Some of the imprisoned fishermen spend years in jails before being repatriated to home.